Target shares and market expectations

Target Corporation is the eighth-largest retailer in the United States. It is important to mention that Target is a component of the S&P 500 index. This retailer operates 1,844 stores across the United States. The headquarters of Target is in Minneapolis, in the state of Minnesota. Its history dates back to the early 20^th century.  On Wednesday, its shares increased by more than 14%.

Target’s third-quarter earnings and sales surpassed market expectations. It is great news especially after taking into consideration the fact that department store chains such as J.C. Penney and Kohl’s disappointing results.

The big-box retailer also increased its profit outlook for 2019. The CEO of Target Brian Connell made a comment regarding the results. He stated that the results underlined the strength of Target’s investment strategy.

Shares of the big-box retailer

Let’s have a look at how Target was able to surprise the analysts by its results. In the third quarter, earnings per share reached $1.36 adjusted while analysts expected $1.19 per share.

Also, Target’s revenue surpassed market expectations. Based on the results from the quarter, the target’s revenue $18.67 billion. This amount beat the expectations by 180 million.

Another good news for Target comes from same-store sales. Analysts predicted that same-store sales would increase by 3.6%. However, sales rose by 4.5%.

Total revenue in the third quarter grew 4.7% to $18.67 billion. As a result, total revenue in comparison with the same period of time in 2018 increased from $17.82 billion to $18.67 billion.

Target also changed its forecast regarding the full-year adjusted earnings per share. The company expects that earnings per share would reach between $6.25 to $6.45. The previous estimate was lower as Target expected that earnings would fall within a range of $5.90 to $6.20.

Target shares increased by more than 14% on Wednesday. It is worth mentioning that on November 19, the shares of Target reached an all-time intraday high of $127.20.

From the beginning of 2019, the stock added more than 90%. At the moment, Target’s market cap is around $64.6 billion.